McDonald's going vegetarian in India

INDIA

Updated 8:30 pm, Wednesday, September 5, 2012

McDonald's Corp. plans to open two vegetarian restaurants next year in India, where millions of people don't eat meat.

McDonald's Corp. plans to open two vegetarian restaurants next year in India, where millions of people don't eat meat.

Photo: Associated Press

McDonald's going vegetarian in India

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McDonald's Corp. will swap its trademark burgers for potato sandwiches when it opens two vegetarian restaurants in India next year, the first such outlets globally for the world's biggest restaurant chain.

The fast-food giant will open two new locations in northern Indian cities that are pilgrimage sites for Hindus and Sikhs, according to Rajesh Kumar Maini, a spokesman for the company's north and east Indian operations. McDonald's already keeps beef and pork products off the menu in India, where a majority of the population are Hindus and Muslims.

The attempt to draw religious Indians shows how McDonald's is trying to boost sales by appealing to local tastes outside its home market and compete with other chains such as Yum Brands Inc.'s KFC and Pizza Hut.

McDonald's, which gets more than 60 percent of its revenue from international stores, said last month that it was exploring and evaluating opportunities in Vietnam, where it doesn't have any stores.

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The vegetarian restaurants will sell items such as the McAloo Tikki burger, a sandwich with a mashed-potato patty, and the Pizza McPuff, a vegetable and cheese pastry.

India, the world's second-most-populous nation, is important for McDonald's as it increases sales overseas. The country's large population, growing urbanization and increasing number of people joining the workforce may help the fast-food industry expand from $840 million in 2010 to $2.6 billion, according to estimates by researcher RNCOS E-Services.

One of the vegetarian outlets will be in Amritsar, where the Golden Temple, a holy site for Sikhs, is located. The other will be in Katra in Jammu and Kashmir in the north, which houses one of the main pilgrimage sites for Hindu people, according to the spokesman.

McDonald's sells Chicken McNuggets and fish burgers in its regular Indian outlets, although its traditional beef burgers aren't available. The cow is sacred to religious Hindus, who don't eat beef.

McDonald's, which opened its first restaurant in India in 1996, operates as many as 271 stores there now through partnerships with two local Indian companies, Connaught Plaza Restaurants for the north and east, and Hardcastle Restaurants in the west and south.